From practicum to the second year of teaching: examining novice teacher identity reconstruction

Abstract

This study explored the co-constitutive influence of past experiences, present engagement in practice, and future self-images on the identity reconstruction of three novice language teachers. Drawing on practicum journals and narratives over a three-year period, the study explores the process of teacher identity reconstruction from the teacher education programme to the second year of teaching. The findings show how critical studentship experiences guided the teachers’ career identity as prospective teachers and how this identity turned into a site of dissonance between practicum experiences and the identity constructed in practice. In particular, context functioned as a main source of teachers’ resisted identities, emotional conflicts and turnover intentions. Moreover, the findings highlight the significance of creating a nexus between teacher education programmes and actual teaching practices. We provide implications and pedagogical alternatives for establishing such a nexus to facilitate student teachers’ transition to the teaching practice and reduce the associated tensions.